Winds blew a cable line across Loop 101 in the east Valley on Sunday night, capping off a wet weekend. The road was reopened by 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Pounding rain and gusting winds wreaked havoc on the Phoenix area Sunday, brought traffic on Loop 101 to a standstill and capped off an already wet weekend.

Early Sunday evening, a microburst -- a severe thunderstorm with very strong downward winds -- blew through the East Valley, uprooting trees, snarling traffic and causing power outages.

The Loop 101 in Tempe was closed in both directions near University Drive at about 7 p.m. because of a fallen Cox Communications cable line, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Traffic was severely backed up for hours. The freeway reopened at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, officials said.

"We have several repair teams on site working with local authorities and hope to have the cabling restored by early morning," said Cox spokeswoman Andrea Katsenes.

Stranded drivers took to Twitter to express their frustration, some after being stuck on the Loop 101 for hours.

"A (communications) line broke and fell in the road on the 101 so I was stranded in Tempe for 3 hours in a traffic jam," tweeted Zachary Douthit at 9:41 p.m. He attached two pictures of clusters of cars so immobile that people had emerged to walk between the lanes. Some vehicles had pulled off to park on the side of the highway.

Salt River Project reported about 4,600 customers in the East Valley were without power because of "outages due to high winds," SRP spokeswoman Kathleen Mascareñas said. By 9 p.m., that number was down to about 2,000 customers, SRP said.

In Tempe, the storm caused part of the roof to collapse at VCA Tri City Animal Hospital and Acacia Cat Hospital, at 2332 E. Broadway Road. Though the hospital was closed at the time, there were three cats and two dogs being boarded inside, hospital administrator Lauren Hewitt said.

"Everyone has been evacuated safely with no injuries," she said. "I'm just glad that nobody was hurt, two-legged or four-legged."

More on the 2014 monsoon

Arizona Public Service reported 1,184 customers in Buckeye had service interrupted Sunday evening as a result of a storm moving through the West Valley. Service was restored as of 7:39 p.m.

West of the Valley near Tonopah, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office reported downed power poles due to storm activity, with power lines blocking part of 387th Avenue.

Sheriff's deputies were blocking the roadway between Indian School and Camelback roads, where the lines had fallen, said Joaquin Enriquez, a sheriff's spokesman.

Parts of northwest and west Maricopa County saw 0.2 inches of rain Sunday afternoon, with more expected in the Valley through the evening.

This tree near the Loop 101 and Southern was uprooted during Sunday's storms.(Photo: Jodie Lau/The Republic)

The soggy weekend should give way to hotter and drier days ahead, though there remains a slight chance of rain early and late in the week, said Charlotte Dewey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

On Monday, the expected high in the Valley is 104 degrees, with a 10 to 15 percent chance of rain later in the day. On Tuesday, the chance of rain decreases to 5 percent, with the expected high inching slightly higher to 105 degrees.

There is no rain predicted for Wednesday, Dewey said. Showers could return Thursday and Friday, which have a 10 to 15 percent chance of rain both days. The predicted high for the second half of the week is 106 degrees.

The on-again, off-again days of rain are ordinary for this time of year, Dewey said.

"We'll go in waves," she said. "It's pretty normal to get a couple days of rain storm events" followed by a couple clear days.

The average high temperature for this time of year is 105 degrees, she added.